HW 34: "Cultural Literacy" of Iraq

As an American, it is important to learn about and understand different cultures from around the world. In Riverbend's "Baghdad Burning," multiple valued practices and rituals are depicted. One of these practices is the role of gold in family savings in Iraq. Back in 1990, many Iraqis started converting their money into gold because of the unstable flex in the Iraqi dollar. Gold held it's worth unlike Iraqi money. Iraqis gold is all the money that they have and it is held very dear to them. Riverbend describes how gold is handled, "Gold can be shown off and worn, but in times of economical trouble, a few pieces can be sold to tide the family over" (Riverbend 100). Iraqis wear their gold but the importance of it is when there is a war, for example, gold is used to make sure the family can make it through the rough times. Riverbend's aunt was extremely frightened that if their house were raided, the troops would take her gold. The gold represented all of the savings the aunt had collected since 1965, so obviously it meant a lot to her (Riverbend 102). Another common custom of Iraqis is evening tea. Iraqis make it tradition everyday to meet around the table and share a cup of tea together. Unlike here in the United States where tea is prepared as a tea bag, Iraqis have a whole process they go through to make their tea. Water is boiled in a kettle while tealeaves are placed in a different pot of water and the water and tealeaves simmer until they reach the top. The final step is the pot is put on the kettle so the tea can "yihder" which means settle. (Riverbend 108-109). The tea is served in glass cups with either glass or porcelain saucers. Tea time is a scared time for Iraqis when they are all together and can discuss different topics, usually whatever is going on in Iraq that day. Riverbend explains the conversations that happen around her tea table, "Stories (vary from) abductions and hijackings, to demonstrations, to empty gas cylinders and burned out water pumps" (Riverbend 109). These subjects that are discussed are very serious. We are lucky that here in the United States, we don't typically tell stories around our dinner tables about a road side bomb or a raid that we witnessed today.